The present invention relates to a composite picture generating method of superimposing an image over a moving picture by using a computer, and more specifically to an image synthesizing method suited for synthesizing an arbitrary image moving over a moving picture and a recording medium storing an image synthesizing program.
A commonly used method for superimposing an image over a moving picture generally involves specifying positions on one or more frames at which the image is to be introduced. The area in which the image is to be fitted is generally specified by setting its boundary. An example method of automatically setting a boundary to determine an image synthesizing area in a background moving picture is described in JP-A-7-262410. This method extracts a boundary line in a real video footage, specifies with a pointing device a rough area where a user wants an image to be inserted and determines an exact area of image insertion. In the area thus determined a desired image is superimposed. Once the area is determined, the image can be superimposed over that area without needing to specify the image superimposing position for each frame.